Episode 10. You're Coming With Us, Right?
"You hunted a 3-Star monster?"
Yoo Taehun furrowed his brows, looking down at Shin Dae and his group.
Recalling the Awakening ranks and levels he had received from the Association before coming here, it was an impossible figure.
"To be precise, Mr. Shin Dae....."
Lee Dohun pointed at Shin Dae, who was looking around as if searching for someone behind him, and answered. Yoo Taehun let out a low sigh.
"Excuse me... I looked into it before coming here and checked everyone's Awakening rank and level...."
"Umm... Team Leader, the dungeon is starting to close?"
Yoo Taehun had been about to pour out his complaints.
He looked at the dungeon beginning to close before his eyes with a startled gaze.
'Good heavens... Did these people really take down a 3-Star monster?'
The fact that the dungeon was beginning to disappear was proof that they had successfully defeated the boss monster inside and destroyed the core.
With the situation proving that their words weren't lies, Yoo Taehun could only move his mouth wordlessly.
'How on earth...'
"Excuse me..... Can I go now?"
When Shin Dae—the one who, according to Lee Dohun standing nearby, had hunted the 3-Star monster—let out a disappointed sigh and asked if he could go, Yoo Taehun flinched.
A sigh let out in disappointment at seeing Gayeon wasn't around.
However, Yoo Taehun looked at Shin Dae, who had shown such a demeanor before him, as if wary of him.
'What is with this man?'
The aura he gave off was E-Rank or higher.
An aura that no one could call F-Rank no matter who they brought.
On top of that, an unflinching attitude even before himself, the Attack Team Leader of the Baekho Guild.
Coupled with his rugged face, it was making Yoo Taehun's thoughts a mess.
'Is he the type to hide his strength?'
There were quite a few Awakeners or rankers who hid their true strength while running dungeons, so Yoo Taehun was roughly classifying him as that type.
"Is there anything else left to do?"
"No. It's not that, but...."
'Even if he's not a hidden powerhouse, what is with this confidence...'
Any other Awakener would boast of their skills and try to make some connection with Baekho, one of the Four Great Guilds.
The man before him just looked like he wanted to go home, leaving Yoo Taehun bewildered.
'Let's just watch for now... In case he's an Irregular.'
"You may return home for now, but could you perhaps give me your number?"
At the word "number," Shin Dae's expression hardened momentarily.
He let out a sigh and typed his number into the phone Yoo Taehun handed him.
'*Sigh*.... Why is it that everyone who asks for my number is a man....'
Shin Dae let out a sigh as he typed his number.
He passed by Yoo Taehun, who was flustered by this demeanor of his, and headed toward his studio apartment.
***
"Gayeon! Great raid yesterday!"
"How were you able to catch such a monster?"
"I heard it was an 8-Star monster?"
Shin Dae, who had come to school, was hearing about yesterday's successful raid by Gayeon.
'8-Star, huh...'
Having perked up his ears, he heard of the successful 8-Star dungeon raid.
That meant Gayeon's current level was 80 or higher.
'If it's 80... I still have a long way to go...'
Calculating his current stats into levels, Shin Dae's level was estimated to be 30.
It was an astounding figure for an F-Rank, who could only grow up to 20, but he let out a sigh.
'I need to get stronger quickly.'
Fortunately, Shin Dae had received a text from Collection Team 1 asking him to come out for a 7-Star dungeon clearing this week, so he gripped his phone tightly.
"Isn't that all thanks to this body of mine."
"Huh?! Seonho oppa, you came to school?"
At the mention of Seonho, Shin Dae subtly looked toward where people were buzzing.
'Lee Seonho...'
Lee Seonho, a Hunter affiliated with Attack Team 1 of the Baekho Guild and a ranker-grade Awakener.
On top of that, the surprising fact was that he was the student council president of Shin Dae's department.
"A student should come to school, don't you think?"
"Tch... Coming twice a month is a lot for you... But what brings you to the second-year classroom?"
"It's nothing much, just this reservist training matter. Which one of you is Park Shindae?"
Shin Dae flinched at the sound of his name being called.
Hearing people whispering asking who Park Shindae was, he felt his face turning red.
'Wait, you called me an Ogre Northern Faction operative but didn't actually know my name?'
Letting out a sigh at the absurdity, when Shin Dae raised his hand, Lee Seonho grinned.
"What, I posted about the reservist training in the group chat, so why didn't you reply?"
"Ah.. I'm sorry."
He had mentioned it repeatedly, but he still hadn't been invited to the group chat.
"Well, it's not urgent. You know that Awakeners are gathering separately for reservist training this time, right?"
"Huh? That sunbae was an Awakener?"
"What do we do, he came in blood-stained clothes last time; I guess that's why."
Once the fact that Shin Dae was an Awakener became known, the surrounding classmates began looking at him with curious eyes.
Receiving such gazes, Shin Dae shook his head at Lee Seonho's words.
"I didn't know?"
"Ah? Really? It's nothing much, we can't train together with ordinary people, right? So I guess we're gathering separately for training."
Lee Seonho handed over the prepared documents to Shin Dae.
Shin Dae scanned the contents written on the documents and frowned.
'What am I going to accomplish with something like this...'
Like the majority of reservists, the schedule was just receiving theoretical education for a day.
Seeing Shin Dae's expression, Lee Seonho smirked.
"What can you do even if you don't want to go, it's the nation's call.. You're going with our people, right?"
'There's no need to go and be left alone, right?'
Shin Dae had resolved to go alone rather than spend awkward time with fellow department mates.
The moment he opened his mouth to speak words of refusal, Lee Seonho looked at Oh Gayeon, who had been staring at her phone without a care beside him.
"Since Gayeon's participating this time too, does that mean five Awakeners from our department are going?"
"Gayeon's going too?!"
Shin Dae raised his voice without realizing it.
His voice had grown louder in surprise at the fact that Oh Gayeon, a woman, was going to reservist training.
"Yeah. She's an A-Rank Awakener, after all. Ah! It's because it's reservist training. If you look at the end, there's training where you enter a dungeon, right? She's participating as an instructor there."
"Ah... Instructor....."
"Then I'll tell the instructor hyung that you're participating. And make sure to check the group chat from now on."
Lee Seonho left the classroom with a grin.
Shin Dae watched him leave, then looked at the reservist training date and furrowed his brows.
'How is reservist training the day before the MT?'
***
"You're here again?"
Shin Dae had come to the Hunter Association again to get the equipment items obtained from the previous dungeon appraised.
He handed over the equipment items to an Association employee like before, and she quickly finished the appraisal.
"Hmm.... The items are a bit ambiguous this time as well."
"Is that so?"
Well, how could one expect much from equipment items that came from a dungeon that was only 3-Star at best even if a 2-Star went berserk.
Shin Dae received the paper on which the employee had written down the weapon's performance.
He furrowed his brows as he looked at the stats of the equipment listed on it.
[Lost Longsword of the Morian Dwarves]
[Rare Grade]
[Durability 13/100]
[A longsword lost by the Morian Dwarves.]
[Attack Power 80]
[Lost Shield of the Morian Dwarves]
[Rare Grade]
[Durability 12/150]
[A shield lost by the Morian Dwarves.]
[Defense 150]
'Not bad...'
The equipment durabilities looked fine for his immediate use.
Plus, the fact that they were dwarf-made was to his liking.
"What would you like to do?"
At the employee's question asking whether he would sell them to the Association or keep them, Shin Dae smirked.
"I can request repairs too, right?"
They were like this now, but there was potential for the stats to increase further after repairs.
At the employee's words that repair was possible, Shin Dae paid the repair fee of 150.
He left the Association building having been told to come pick them up in a week.
"The expenses are bigger than I thought..."
His available funds now amounted to only about 3 million won.
The only incoming funds were the income from Lee Dohun, who had said he would settle the harvest obtained from the 2-Star dungeon in a week.
'Though there's the Collection Team daily wage too...'
With the Collection Team daily wage and the money settled from the dungeon, he couldn't afford suitable armor for himself.
Having thought from this battle that he could slowly try challenging 3-Star dungeons, he was planning to outfit himself with armor.
'Just how am I supposed to do this.....'
Shin Dae walked on, lost in thought.
He suddenly noticed saliva pooling in his mouth and opened his eyes wide.
'Huh... Don't tell me, this time too?'
The exact same reaction as the dungeon that had suddenly appeared last time.
Soon, the message appearing before his eyes turned his thoughts into certainty.
[The meat Gluttony desires is nearby.]
[You will receive X2 rewards upon consumption.]
'Would it be okay to go now?'
It was a situation where he had left all his equipment at the Association.
The only equipment he currently had was an apprentice knife he had brought from home.
'If it's similar to last time, it should be fine, right?'
Since he had been able to hunt everything in the 2-Star dungeon with this knife last time, Shin Dae moved his steps toward the dungeon without much thought.
He looked at the flickering dungeon entrance and opened his eyes wide.
"Huh? What's this?"
It wasn't a red dungeon entrance, but a blue dungeon entrance.
The fact that it was blue meant someone had already hunted all the monsters inside.
'Does that mean someone already hunted it?'
Hearing that there were no monsters inside, Shin Dae entered the dungeon to check.
He discovered monster corpses strewn about here and there, and opened his eyes wide.
"Th... this appeared here?"
The monster corpses looked like they hadn't been dead long.
Moreover, the surprising fact was that the lying monster was none other than a [Griffin].
'If it's a Griffin, it's at least a 6-Star monster...'
Shin Dae squatted down and examined the Griffin's corpse.
He began to grow curious about the being that had hunted all the monsters without even taking the magic stones.
'Just who...'
For now, Shin Dae stealthily stashed away some Griffin meat.
Wiping away the drool bursting out in front of the boss room as he went inside, he was able to discover an astonishing sight.
"Huh? There's someone else who entered the dungeon besides me?"